Process for breaking compressed fibrous material



H. RAPP Sept. 7, 1965 PROCESS FOR BREAKING COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed June 7, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR r m" /7 M J! J27,-

ATTORNEY Sept. 7, 1965 H. RAPP 3,204,298

PROCESS FOR BREAKING COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed June 7. 1 62 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 7, 1965 H. RAPP 3,204,298

PROCESS FOR BREAKING COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed June 7, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.3

INVENTOR flan: Qap

United States Patent PROI'CE'fiS FOR BREAKING COWRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL Hans Rapp, Oberesslingen, Germany, assignor to Maschinenhau Rapp & Seidt, Esslingen, Germany Filed June 7, 1962, Ser. No. 200,745 Claims priority, application Germany, June 13, 1961, M 49,329 Claims. (Cl. 19-145.5)

The present invention relates to a process for treatment of fibrous materials, and more particularly to a process for breaking and teasing packages of stacked cotton slabs or raw cotton bales. Still more particularly, the invention relates to a process according to which tufts of fibrous material removed from stacked slabs or bales are immediately subjected to a thorough sifting, cleaning and mixing action.

An important object of the invention is to provide an exceptionally simple process for consecutively breaking raw cotton bales or cotton slabs in a continuous operation and according to which the bales or slabs are comminuted into small tufts of uniform or nearly uniform size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a process or" the just outlined characteristics which may be carried out with the expenditure of less energy than any process for the same purpose of which I am aware at this time because the instrumentalities used for breaking of bales or slabs act in directions in which the compressed fibrous material offers least resistance to a comminuting action.

A further object of the invention is to provide a process for breaking bales or slabs of compressed fibrous material which constitutes an improvement over the process disclosed in a copending application Serial No. 96,221 filed by Hermann Diesel and assigned to the same assignee now Patent No. 3,139,650.

With the above objects in view, the invention resides in the provision of a process which comprises the steps of stacking two or more bales or slabs of compressed fibrous material, and removing tufts of material in directions in which the compressed fibrous material otters least resistance to breaking. Thus, and since the slabs normally terial is subjected to the action of plucking instrumentaliti'es in the form of toothed rollers, bands or the like whose revolving teeth engage the slabs and are simultaneously reciprocated in horizontal planes.

The improved process may be carried out with an apparatus which comprises means for advancing stacked slabs endwise against one or more revolving plucking rollers which are reciprocated in such a way that their teeth move in directions substantially parallel with the general planes of the slabs. It is preferred to mount two or more plucking rollers in a reciprocable carriage and to rotate the rollers in opposite directions so that they move tufts of fibrous material toward a plane which is located midway between and which is perpendicular to the plane comm-on to the axes of the plucking rollers.

The novel features which are considered as charactersitic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims, The improved process itself, however, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments of a bale breaking apparatus with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section in a vertical plane ice through a first apparatus, the section of FIG. 2 being taken in the direction of arrows as seen from the line II of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section through the apparatus as seen in the direction of arrows from the line IIII of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a similar horizontal section through a modified apparatus which is shown on an enlarged scale.

Referring now in greater detail to the illustrated embodiments, and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an apparatus for breaking a parallelepiped stack 1 of slabs consisting of compressed fibrous material and for thereupon sifting, mixing and cleaning tufts of fibrous material which are removed from the slabs. As shown in FIG. 1, the stack 1 comprises a first package of superimposed slabs 1a which are disposed in horizontal planes, and a second package of superimposed slabs 1b which are also disposed in horizontal planes and which are located rearwardly of the slabs 1a. The slabs 1a or 1b may but need not be of identical thickness. A third package of slabs may be assembled on a stacking table T which is shown to the right of the package 1b. In other words, the packages of stacks 1a, 1b and tht package momentarily assembled on the table T may form a continuous body of stacked horizontal slabs, and the two foremost packages are engaged by a composite conveyor which, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises four endless conveyors including an upper conveyor 2, a lower conveyor 3, a first lateral conveyor 4, and a second lateral conveyor 5. Each of these conveyors comprises a pair of driven sprockets 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, and an endless needle band or apron 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b which is trained around the respective sprockets. The stack-engaging inner runs or stringers of the aprons 4b, 5b are driven downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 2, and the stack-engaging inner runs of the aprons 2b, 3b are driven in a direction to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, so as to advance the package of slabs 1a endwise against a pair of toothed plucking rollers 7 and 8 which are best shown in FIG. 2 and which are mounted in a specially constructed carriage 9. The aprons 2b5b define between themselves a passage of substantially rectangular cross section through which the packages of stacked slabs advance toward the carriage 9. Before reaching the plucking rollers 7 and 8, the package of stacked slabs 1a passing through the discharge end of the composite conveyer must advance through a rectangular frame 6 which defines a passage of diminishing cross section and which thus causes a final compression of the slabs 1a before they reach the teeth 7a, 8a of the respective plucking rollers.

As shown in FIG. 1, the teeth 8a of the plucking roller 8 are preferably arranged in the form of one or more helices so that, when the roller 8 revolves, each horizontal layer of each slab 1a will be subjected to the action of these teeth. The arrangement of teeth 7:: on the periph cry of the plucking roller 7 is analogous. Both plucking rollers revolve about vertical axes and in opposite directions so that, and as viewed in FIG. 2, the left-hand roller 7 revolves in a clockwise direction and the righthand roller 8 revolves in an anticlockwise direction.

The carriage 9 for the rollers 7, 8 simultaneously serves as a means for preventing removal of large batches of fibrous material from the stacked slabs 1a. In addition, the carriage 9 may accommodate a motor 9a (shown schematically in FIG. 1) which is drivingly connected with the shafts of the rollers 7, 8, e.g., through a suitable reducing gearing, so as to rotate these rollers in opposite directions. The base structure of the housing 31 of the apparatus accommodates a reversible motor 9b which serves as a means for reciprocating the carriage 9 back and forth along the left-hand end faces of the slabs 1a, as viewed in FIG. 1. This motor 9b may drive the carriage through a rack-and-pinion assembly 9c or the like. The means 9a for rotating the plucking rollers 7, 8 in opposite directions, and the means 9b, 90 for reciprocating the carriage 9 along the end faces of the slabs 1b are not shown in minute detail since many types of such rotating and reciprocating means may be used, for example, simple gear trains, belts and pulleys, sprockets and chains, hydraulic or pneumatic motors, and many others. All that is necessary for satisfactory operation of my improved bale breaking apparatus is that the rollers are rotated and that the carriage moves back and forth along the slabs 1a in such a way that the teeth 7a, 8a are reciprocated in horizontal planes and that the axes of the rollers 7, 8 remain parallel with themselves when the carriage 9 reciprocates. It will be noted that the general planes of the slabs 1a, 1b are perpendicular to the axes of the plucking rollers 7, 8 and to the common plane of these axes.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 9 comprises several sections including a hood-shaped first bafile or shield 10a which partially surrounds the plucking rollers 7, a hood-shaped second baflle or shield 10b which partially surrounds the roller 8, and a substantially plate-like third bafile or shield 11 which extends between the rollers 7, 8 and which is immediately adjacent to the front end faces of the slabs 1a. The shields 10a, 10b, 11 define between themselves two vertical apertures or windows 11a, 11b through which the rollers 7, 8 project into actual engagement with the slabs 1a. It is preferred to construct the carriage 9 in such a way that the rollers 7, 8 and/or the shields 10a, 10b, 11 are adjustable with respect to each other so as to change the width of the apertures 11a, 11b. The directions in which the rollers 7, 8 rotate are selected in such a way that tufts 30 of fibrous material removed from the slabs 1a are caused to pass through the windows 11a, 11b and behind the central shield 11. In other words, the tufts 30 are advanced from one side of the vertical plane common to the axes of the rollers 7, 8 to the other side of this vertical plane. The vertical plane common to the axes of rollers 7, 8 is the same vertical plane in which the carriage 9 reciprocates back and forth along the slabs 1a. As soon as the package of slabs 1a is broken up, the continuously or intermittently advancing needle aprons 2b-5b move the next package (slabs 1b) into the range of revolving and reciprocating teeth 7a, 8a.

It is preferred to provide the frame 6 with hard and highly polished material-engaging inner faces to reduce friction when the conveyers 2-5 are in operation.

At the left-hand side of the carriage 9, as viewed in FIG. 1, the housing 31 of the apparatus defines a downwardly inclined channel 21 of diminishing cross section (as seen in a vertical plane) whose intake end is adjacent to the carriage and through which the tufts 30 advance into the range of a first teasing roller 13. The bottom wall in the channel 21 assumes the form of a grate 12 through which any particulate matter heavier than the tufts 30 can descend by gravity into a receptacle 12a. Such heavier particulate matter may consist of stones, metallic particles and the like which are accidentally contained in the compressed fibrous material of the slabs. The grate 12 is preferably removable so that it may be replaced by a grate whose bars are spaced at a greater or lesser distance from each other. The teasing roller 13 breaks up the tufts 30 and permits foreign'particles which might have been entrapped in the tufts 30 to drop by gravity through the bars of a second grate 17 which is located below this teasing roller and which allows such particles to descend into the receptacle 12a. Additional teasing rollers 14, 15, 16 and additional grates 18, 19, 20 are located in a fiat upwardly inclined second channel 32 which comunicates with the channel 21 and through which the fibrous material is drawn by suction produced by a suitable apparatus, not shown. ticles descending through'the grates 18, 19, 20 accumu- The parlate in receptacles 18a, 19a, 20a, respectively. If desired, the receptacle 1211 may be subdivided into two receptacles one of which receives particulate matter descending through the grate 12 and the other of which receives foreign particles descending through the grate 17. The channel 32 discharges comminuted, cleaned and intermixed tufts into a next machine, e.g., a cleaning apparatus, which is not shown in the drawings. The mixing action of the teasing rollers 13-16 is of particular advantage when the package momentarily engaged by the teeth of the plucking rollers 7, 8 consists of slabs containing different fibrous materials. The manner in which the teasing rollers 13-16 may be driven is preferably the same or similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned copending application Serial No. 96,221 of Hermann Diesel to which reference may be had if necessary.

At least the median shield 11 may be biased by helical springs 110 or the like so as to yieldingly bear against the end faces of the slabs la. The other shields 10a, 10b may be biased in similar manner if desired. The apparatus of my invention may utilize a carriage with rigidly mounted shields if the nature of the slabs is such that the springs 110 may be dispensed with. The shields 10a, 10b, 11 may consist of sheet metal or the like. If they are biased by springs, the pressure which the shields exert against the slabs is selected in a way to avoid excessive friction.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of a modified bale breaking and teasing apparatus which comprises a different carriage 109. This carriage includes a casing 109a for vertical shafts of idler rollers 22-26 which replace the shields 10a, 10b, 11 and whose teeth 33 bite into and loosen up the fibrous material of the slabs 1a which are in the range of teeth 107a, 108a. As shown, one or more toothed idler rollers (24-26) may be mounted in the space between the plucking rollers 107, 108, one idler roller (22) may be located at the outer side of the plucking roller 107, and a further idler roller (23) may be provided at the outer I side of the plucking roller 108. The rollers 22-26 may but need not be driven since they are compelled to rotate automatically when the carriage 109 is reciprocated along the end faces of the slabs 1a (see the double-headed arrow 34). The manner in which the teeth 107a, 108a are arranged in helical groups, the manner in which the vertical shafts 107b, 108b are driven, and the. manner in which the carriage 109 is reciprocated along the slabs 1a are preferably the same as described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. The tufts 30 of fibrous material removed by the teeth 107a, 108a are directed toward'a vertical plane which is located midway between the plucking rollers 107, 108 and which is perpendicular to a vertical plane common to the axes of the shafts 107b, 108b.

The idler rollers 22-26 may consist of wood or a similar material, and they constitute a composite shield which prevents removal of large batches of fibrous material from the slabs It: When the carriage 109 reciprocates along the package momentarily engaged by the plucking rollers 107, 108. If desired, the shafts of the rollers 22-26 may be mounted in' suitable roller bearings or the like to reduce friction.

An important advantage of my improved apparatus is that, since the shafts of the plucking rollers 7, 8 or 107, 108 are vertical, since these plucking rollers are caused to reciprocate in a horizontal direction, and since the teeth of the plucking rollers are preferably arranged in helical groups, the teeth 7a, 8a or 107a, 108a will break the slabs 1a, 1b, etc. uniformly without necessitating any other but forward movement of the slabs. In other words, the rather complicated mechanism disclosed in apparatus. Furthermore, the rate at which the plucking rollers 7, 8 or 107, 108 can remove tufts of fibrous material from stacked slabs may be varied at will, either by changing the rate of speed at which the needle aprons 2b 5b are driven or by changing the width of windows 11a, 1112 or windows 111a, 111E; (FIG. 3) through which the respective plucking rollers advance tufts of fibrous material into the interior of the apparatus, i.e., toward the teasing rollers.

it will be readily understood that, if necessary, the carriage 9 or 109 may be provided with a single plucking roller or with three or more plucking rollers. Each plucking roller may consist of several tubular sections which may be replaced independently in the event that certain teeth of a plucking roller are damaged or destroyed. By utilizing composite plucking rollers, it is possible to replace damaged sections of one or more rollers Without necessitating replacement of the entire roller.

My improved process can be carried out in a breaking and teasing apparatus which requires less power than any conventional apparatus of which I am aware at this time. This is due to the fact that the teeth 7a, 3a or 107a, 108a remove tufts in the direction of least resistance, namely, in the general planes of the slabs. The compressed fibrous material of the slabs offers less resistance to a comminuting action if such action takes place in directions perpendicular to directions in which a slab was compressed.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A process of simultaneously breaking up at least two substantially flat slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising the steps of superposing at least two substantially flat slabs so that their superimposed faces are located in a plane of superimposition and their end faces are located in a common removal plane transversal to said plane of superimposition; and removing tufts of fibrous material simultaneously from the end faces of all of the superposed slabs in said removal plane in a direction substantially parallel to said plane of superimposition.

2. A process of simultaneously breaking up at least two substantially flat slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising the steps of superposing at least two substantially flat slabs so that their superimposed faces are located in a common substantially horizontal plane, and their end faces are located in a common substantially vertical removal plane; and removing tufts of fibrous material simultaneously from the end faces of all of the superposed slabs in said substantially vertical plane and in a direction substantially parallel to said common horizontal plane of said slabs.

3. in a process of simultaneously breaking up a plurality of substantially flat slabs of compressed fibrous material with a vertically arranged rotatable elongated plucking roller the steps of vertically superposing a plurality of substantially flat slabs at a location remote from said plucking roller so that their superimposed faces are located in respective common substantially horizontal planes and their end faces are located in a common substantially vertical plane; continuously moving said plurality of superposed slabs in substantially longitudinal direction toward and with said end faces thereof into engagement with said vertically arranged rotatable plucking roller; and rotating said plucking roller about its substantially vertical axis so as to remove tufts of fibrous material simultaneously from the end faces of all of the superposed slabs.

4. In a process for simultaneously breaking up a plurality of substantially flat slabs of compressed fibrous material with at least one elongated vertically disposed plucking roller having a plurality of teeth disposed along a vertical helix, the steps of vertically superposing a plurality of substantially fiat slabs at a location remote from said plucking roller so that their superimposed faces are located in respective common horizontal planes and their end faces are located in a common vertical plane; continuously moving said plurality of superposed slabs in substantially horizontal direction with their end faces toward said vertically arranged plucking roller; compressing edge portions of said slabs adjacent said end faces immediately ahead of said plucking roller in directions transverse to that of the movement of said slabs during the movement thereof toward and into engagement with said plucking roller; rotating said plucking roller about its substantially vertical axis of rotation while reciprocating it in horizontal direction thereby removing tufts of fibrous material simultaneously from the end faces of all of the superposed slabs.

5. In a process for simultaneously breaking up a plurality of substantially fiat slabs of compressed fibrous material with a pair of elongated vertically disposed plucking rollers, the steps of vertically superposing a plurality of substantially flat slabs at a location remote from said pair of plucking rollers so that their superimposed faces are located in respective common horizontal planes and their end faces are located in a common verticalplane; continuously moving said plurality of superposed slabs in substantially horizontal direction with their end face to ward said pair of vertically disposed plucking rollers; compressing edge portions of said slabs adjacent said end faces immediately ahead of said plucking rollers in directions transverse to said movement of said slabs during the movement thereof toward and into engagement with said plucking rollers; rotating said pair of plucking rollers in opposite directions about respective vertical axes of totation transversely spaced from one another while reciprocating said rollers in horizontal direction, and thereby removing tufts of fibrous material simultaneously from the end faces of all of the superposed slabs substantially in the direction of said movement and toward a plane midway between the axes of said rollers for causing admixture of said tufts.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,400,008 12/21 Stanoliff 19886 X 1,929,344 10/33 Benoit 19-1455 2,445,912 7/48 Frost 19-80 2,509,823 5/50 Hughes 1993 X 2,724,169 11/55 Taylor et al 1980 X 2,800,180 7/57 Jensen 225-4 2,803,304 8/57 Kessler 2254 2,938,239 5/ 60 Leineweber et al. 198O 3,040,387 6/62 Jee 1981 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,266,665 6/61 France.

5 19,87 3 3/31 Germany.

WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, ANDREW R. IUHASZ,

Examiners. 

1. A PROCESS OF SIMULTANEOUSLY BREAKING UP AT LEAST TWO SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT SLABS OF COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF SUPERPOSING AT LEAST TWO SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT SLABS SO THAT THEIR SUPERIMPOSED FACES ARE LOCATED IN A PLANE OF SUPERIMPOSITION AND THEIR END FACE ARE LOCATED IN A COMMON REMOVAL PLANE TRANSVERSAL TO SAID PLANE OF SUPERIMPOSITION; AND REMOVING TUFTS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM THE END FACES OF ALL OF THE SUPERPOSED SLABS IN SAID REMOVAL PLANE IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLANE OF SUPERIMPOSITION. 